English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 12/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 17/24-26/:”Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 11-12/2021
KSA to ‘Only’ Grant Humanitarian Visas for Lebanese
Zaki Says ‘Biggest Crisis’ is Hizbullah’s Arms
Miqati Says 'Dealing Positively with Challenges' but Has His 'Limits'
Israel Warns Hizbullah, Says Willing to Offer Concessions in Gas File
Nasrallah Rejects 'Submission' in KSA Row, Says Hizbullah Not Dominating Lebanon
Kuwait takes Lebanon-Gulf row to new level, imposing visa restrictions
Lebanon’s orchestra tries to survive despite crisis
Report: Hizbullah, Amal Refuse to Change Stance on Cabinet Boycott
Report: Aoun Indirectly Condemned Hizbullah in Tweet over Port Blast Probe
Geagea Urges Expats to Turn Out Heavily in Elections
Cyprus Says Migrants Boat from Syria and Lebanon Escorted to Shore
Football game against Iran fuels Lebanese pride/Najia Houssari/Arab News/November 11/2021
Agency. Not surrender/Ronnie Chatah/Now Lebanon/November 11/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 11-12/2021
Syria Inks Solar Plant Deal with UAE Firms
UAE's Embrace of Syria Could Lead to More Arab Overtures
Sudan General Burhan Names Council to Steer Transition after Coup
Sudan’s civilian coalition rejects talks with military, wants Burhan out
Iraqi Kurdistan wants to address ‘root causes’ of migrant flow
Turkish defence firm to test sea-based drones as part of arms export push
Move on corruption cases threatens efforts to create political truce in Kuwait
Iraqi PM Tours Baghdad Area Days after Assassination Attempt
Gulf States in First Joint Naval Exercise with Israel
Incoming CEO of Israeli Spyware Firm NSO Steps Down
Israel Holds 'War Drill' in Case of New Covid Strain
Palestinian PM warns Israel over perpetuation of ‘apartheid’ system
Macron’s ‘regrets’ satisfy Algeria but Tebboune will not attend Paris conference
UN sanctions Houthi militiamen over cross-border attacks, Marib offensive
Clashes continue in Tunisian city over garbage pileup

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 11-12/2021
Sudan’s civilians and military need each other/Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
Libya’s zero-sum game/Habib Lassoued/The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
Biden should reject US return to Iran nuclear deal/Dalia Al-Aqidi /Arab News/November 11/2021
Iran regime’s popularity is now at its lowest ebb/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 11/2021
Disarming Iran-backed militias should be Iraq’s urgent priority/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/November 11/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 11-12/2021
KSA to ‘Only’ Grant Humanitarian Visas for Lebanese
Naharnet /November 11/2021
Saudi Arabia will limit the visas it issues for Lebanese nationals to only cover humanitarian cases, MTV said Thursday, which will escalate the diplomatic row between Beirut and Riyadh. A security source in the Kuwait also said Wednesday the country is to limit the number of visas it issues for Lebanese nationals.
Saudi Arabia and neighboring Kuwait both recalled their ambassadors from Beirut after Lebanon's information minister criticized a Riyadh-led military intervention in the Yemen conflict, sparking a row with Gulf states. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese work in Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has said Hizbullah's "dominance" of Lebanese politics made "dealing with Lebanon pointless for the kingdom." Kuwait, which has a sizable Shiite community, is currently holding 16 of its own nationals suspected of helping to finance Hizbullah, according to local media.

Zaki Says ‘Biggest Crisis’ is Hizbullah’s Arms
Naharnet /November 11/2021
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki has said that the Lebanese officials are “keen on doing what it takes to serve Lebanon’s interests.”He pointed out, in a televised interview, that the Lebanese leaders’ stance can break down the wall between Lebanon and the Gulf, “despite Hizbullah’s objection.”Zaki added that he visited Lebanon in a bid to resolve Lebanon's recent row with the Gulf countries. “But it will be a gateway to resolve the biggest crisis, Hizbullah’s weapons,” he said.

Miqati Says 'Dealing Positively with Challenges' but Has His 'Limits'
Naharnet/November 11/2021
Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Thursday noted that he is “dealing positively and openly with the challenges,” while pointing out that there are “limits” for his flexibility. “It is true that I am dealing positively and openly with the challenges, no matter their magnitude, and I’m giving discussion and dialogue their maximum capacity, but it is also true that dialogue stops at the limits of national and personal beliefs from which I will never deviate,” Miqati said at a ceremony in Tripoli. He added that the “limits” are “the judiciary’s independence” and “preserving Lebanon’s Arab belonging and maintaining brotherhood ties with the Arab brothers, topped by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”“The principle of the state is based on individuals and groups voluntarily giving up some of what they have for the sake of the public interest,” Miqati said.“Whereas the approach based on permanent advocacy of private rights, for individuals or groups, largely leads to creating tensions and paralyzing the institutions,” he warned.

Israel Warns Hizbullah, Says Willing to Offer Concessions in Gas File
Naharnet/November 11/2021
Israel has warned Hizbullah against initiating any military action, as it announced that it is willing to offer “concessions” in the negotiations over offshore gas and oil resources. “We don’t fear Hizbullah’s military power and if it decides to attack us, it will pay a hefty price along with Lebanon,” Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath TV quoted a senior Israeli security source as saying. “We’re willing to offer concessions over the gas agreement with Lebanon, but that won’t be at the expense of our security,” the source added.

Nasrallah Rejects 'Submission' in KSA Row, Says Hizbullah Not Dominating Lebanon
Naharnet/November 11/2021
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday said he does not want to “escalate” things in the diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia but stressed that Lebanon should reject “submission and humiliation.” “Saudi Arabia stirred the latest crisis with Lebanon and we want things to calm down,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking Hizbullah’s Martyr Day. Noting that Information Minister George Kordahi “did not attack anyone and did not use harsh terms,” Nasrallah said the Saudi reaction was “very, very exaggerated and incomprehensible.”“The same remarks had been voiced by Arab and international officials,” he pointed out. “Saudi Arabia, which claims to be an Islamic country, did not react to the insulting of the Prophet by officials in several countries,” he said. “Saudi Arabia presents itself as a friend of Lebanon and the Lebanese people and it has a problem with Hizbullah, which we acknowledge, but is this how friends deal with their friends?” Nasrallah wondered. He added that the resignation of former foreign minister Charbel Wehbe over remarks that also infuriated Saudi Arabia was a “mistake” that “opened the door to the current pressures.” Noting that the possible “resignation or sacking” of Kordahi should not happen in “a sovereign, free, dignified and honorable state,” Nasrallah said such a move would not “solve the problem.” “To those who have called on the information minister to put national interest first, is national interest in heeding anything requested by foreign forces? The Saudi demands and conditions are endless in Lebanon and does national interest lie in submission and humiliation?” Hizbullah’s leader added.
Nasrallah also charged that Saudi Arabia “wants its allies in Lebanon to fight a civil war against Hizbullah,” adding that some of his group’s rivals in Lebanon are against such a scheme while some of them lack the ability to implement it. “The Saudi foreign minister himself acknowledged that his problem with Lebanon is with Hizbullah, especially regarding the Yemeni issue, and Saudi claims about Iranian occupation of Lebanon are silly,” he went on to say. Rejecting accusations by the Saudi FM about Hizbullah’s “domination” of Lebanon, Nasrallah said: “There are forces that are much less stronger than us who have bigger influence over the state, especially over the judiciary.” “Are we a party that is dominating Lebanon while we are unable to influence the recusal of a judge from a certain file?” Nasrallah added, referring to his party’s demand that Judge Tarek Bitar be removed from the Beirut port blast case over alleged “bias.” “Are we a party that is dominating Lebanon while we’re unable to bring diesel ships to Lebanese shores and while no one listens to us about restoring coordination and ties with Syria and the Orient?” Nasrallah went on to say. “We are influential in Lebanon but we are not dominating the country. Others have more influence over the Lebanese state, institutions and army,” he said. Commenting on media reports, Nasrallah said tt is not true that Iran asked Riyadh to “talk to Hizbullah” about Yemen’s Houthi rebels. “If you want to stop the war, the only way for that is that you accept ceasing fire and lifting the siege,” Nasrallah added, addressing the Saudis. “The victories in Yemen were created by Yemeni leaders and brains and by Yemeni miracles and a divine victory,” Nasrallah stressed, denying that his group is playing a role in any Houthi advances. As for the tensions with Israel, Nasrallah said that “for the first time in the history of this entity, it is afraid of Lebanon.”“It is afraid that Lebanon might invade parts of its north,” he said. “Israel is anxious over Lebanon, Palestine and the region, in addition to its existential concerns,” Nasrallah charged. Turning to domestic files, Hizbullah’s leader called for “pacification on the judicial verdicts over the latest clashes in Lebanon,” adding that his party is “open to dialogue.”“We’re continuing our follow-up of the investigations into the Tayyouneh massacre that was deliberately committed by the Lebanese Forces party,” he said. “Claims that there is a bargain between the Beirut port blast case and the Tayyouneh massacre are totally baseless,” he emphasized.

Kuwait takes Lebanon-Gulf row to new level, imposing visa restrictions
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
Gulf sources do not expect these measures to stop at Kuwait.
KUWAIT-BEIRUT--Kuwait has taken Gulf escalation against Lebanon to a new level as diplomatic and media campaigns are being supplemented with visa restrictions likely to affect Lebanese expatriates in the country. Gulf sources do not expect these kinds of measures to stop at Kuwait and believe the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries could also impose tougher restrictions on Lebanese communities in the region. The sources told The Arab Weekly that the Gulf governments have no intention of ending the row over Lebanese Minister of Information, George Kordahi’s critical remarks before sending an unmistakable message to Lebanese officials. This is that “the era of accommodation is over and that Gulf support will be conditioned in the future on Lebanese political positions that are commensurate with the Gulf countries being accorded rightful consideration in Lebanon”.The sources added that Kuwait in particular has more than one reason for tightening their issuance of visas to the Lebanese considering Hezbollah’s continued meddling in Kuwaiti affairs and the security concerns it is causing for the oil-rich Gulf country’s authorities. Local reports in Kuwait said security services uncovered a new cell collecting money and donations and recruiting militants on behalf of the Lebanese pro-Iran party.
The dismantling of the cell coincided with reports that the emir of Kuwait’s amnesty bill includes a reduction in the penalties imposed on individuals arrested in the 2015 Abdali case involving collaboration with Iran and Hezbollah and the holding of a huge arms cache in a farm near the Iraqi border. Kuwait had previously called on the Lebanese authorities to take necessary measures to halt practices by Hezbollah that “threaten the security and stability of Kuwait”, but this yielded no results. This contributed to convincing the Kuwaiti authorities to take a new retaliatory step limiting the number of visas for Lebanese nationals. “A verbal decision has been taken to be stricter in granting tourist and business visas to Lebanese,” a Kuwaiti security source told AFP, Wednesday, asking not to be identified. The source stressed that no official decision had been made and that visas for visitors from Lebanon have not been suspended. Kuwait, home to some 50,000 Lebanese, has also asked Beirut’s chargé d’affaires, its highest-ranking diplomat in the emirate, to leave the country. More than 300,000 Lebanese live in Gulf Arab states, providing a key financial lifeline for Lebanon’s faltering economy.m Lebanese diplomats are aware that any hardening by the Gulf countries of their policies regarding remittances will increase the hardships for the Lebanese at home, already facing a major economic and social crisis. Lebanon’s ambassadors to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on Wednesday met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut to discuss the impact of the crisis on the country’s expatriate communities. They expressed “fears of growing repercussions on bilateral ties between Lebanon and Gulf states and the interests of Lebanese living in these countries,” according to a statement from the Lebanese premier’s office. The two ambassadors pointed out that “every day’s delay in resolving the crisis will lead to more difficulty in restoring these relations.”
The Lebanese have in the past used Gulf support, primarily from Saudi Arabia, to allevaite the impact of their pressing crises, such as the petrol or electricity crises. The inflow of Gulf tourists has also provided an economic boost to Lebanon.
Lebanese analysts say that most officials in Beirut believe the current crisis will not pass easily and that Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf countries want to show they are not willing to be forbearing when subjected to hostile targeting. They add that Lebanese decision-makers have clearly received Riyadh’s message, which means that the kingdom and its allies will no longer continue providing aid and investments to help a political class that caters to Hezbollah’s interests. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stressed this month that “there is no point” in dealing with Lebanon in light of the continued “dominance by Iran’s proxies” over this Arab country, in reference to Hezbollah. The diplomatic crisis between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia was sparked by statements made by Kordahi, in which he said that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen were “defending themselves” in the face of “external aggression” from Saudi Arabia. The comments by Kordahi were made in August before he took office but were published October 25. At the end of last month, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait asked the heads of Lebanese diplomatic missions to leave their countries and decided to recall their ambassadors from Beirut. The UAE also recalled its diplomats from Beirut in solidarity with Riyadh. Saudi Arabia also announced a ban on Lebanese imports. The kingdom is Lebanon’s third-largest export market, accounting for six percent of the country’s exports in 2020, worth around $217 million, according to Lebanon’s chamber of commerce.

Lebanon’s orchestra tries to survive despite crisis
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
BEIRUT--As Lebanon’s national orchestra prepared for its season-opening concert with half its musicians absent, conductor Lubnan Baalbaki faced a dilemma – attempt a piece made for a full ensemble or prepare a smaller version. The day of the concert, three extra musicians showed up, braving the pressures of an economic crisis that had led dozens of their colleagues to quit the band, and Baalbaki was able to conduct the original score. “I felt like it was the moment when the Titanic was sinking and [the band] insisted on keeping the music playing despite everything that was happening,” Baalbaki told Reuters. But it is not clear how much longer they will be able to keep going. The National Symphony Orchestra has not been spared the effects of the financial crisis that has left many people in Lebanon suffering from poverty and struggling to secure basic necessities. The crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the August 2020 Beirut blast that killed more than 215 people and damaged parts of the city– including the conservatory where the orchestra practices. As the currency crashed, the roughly 100 musicians in the ensemble watched the value of their wages tumble from $3,000 to around $200.
Most foreign musicians packed their bags and left. “We used to do very big productions that would cover the entire classical repertoire. Now it’s very difficult,” Baalbaki said. Wages of those who remain now cover little more than the price of fuel to drive to weekly practice sessions, forcing Baalbaki to reduce the number of concerts from dozens a year to a handful. This mirrors a wider decline in Lebanon’s cultural spaces including summer festivals, once seen as a beacon of the arts in the region that featured jazz legends and Arab icons, due to the crisis and the pandemic. Mona Kusta Semaan, a violinist who has been with the ensemble since it was re-founded in 2000 after its closure during Lebanon’s 1975-90 Civil War, has fond memories of performing with Spanish tenor Placido Domingo at the Roman ruins in Baalbeck in the early 2000s. Now, she said she choked up when she saw an orchestra on TV. “I hope now that things get better, and Lebanon gets back on its feet, and they [foreign musicians] come back,” she said. “We became a family.”
Music under sectarianism —
Even before the crisis, the conservatory had been paralyzed for nearly a decade by Lebanon’s sectarian quota-sharing system, where top posts at public institutions are distributed among politicians who generally appoint loyalists, with little regard for merit. When conservatory head Walid Gholmieh, a Greek Orthodox Christian, died in 2011, a permanent replacement was not found for seven years. Instead, two acting heads were appointed. The first was a bureaucrat with no musical qualifications. The second, seen as qualified for the post, was not permanently appointed because he was Catholic rather than an Orthodox Christian. Lebanese musician Bassam Saba finally took over in 2018 after returning from the United States, but he died from complications related to COVID-19 last year. Baalbaki fears it could take years before a successor is appointed. “We are hostages,” Baalbaki said. “The fate of art and music in Lebanon is taken hostage in this country because of the political class who insist on introducing this sectarian spirit.”But the musicians would keep going, he said. “We were born in this country and this is our fate, to find solutions and create new opportunities.”

Report: Hizbullah, Amal Refuse to Change Stance on Cabinet Boycott
Naharnet/November 11/2021
The stance of Hizbullah and Amal Movement on not taking part in Cabinet sessions before the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar has not changed, a media report said on Thursday. Prime Minister Najib Miqati is in the picture of this stance, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.
“This stance was further explored over the past days and there were pleadings aimed at softening the (Shiite) duo’s position but they have all failed,” the daily added.“The response was a confirmation that participation hinges on eliminating the reasons behind Cabinet’s boycott: the recusal of Judge Bitar in the port case,” the newspaper said.

Report: Aoun Indirectly Condemned Hizbullah in Tweet over Port Blast Probe
Naharnet/November 11/2021
High-level sources from the March 8 alliance considered President Michel Aoun’s tweet as an indirect accusation to Hizbullah over the Beirut port blast, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper said Thursday. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri responded to the tweet that targeted the Shiite duo and indirectly "incriminated" Hizbullah as well, the newspaper said. “Innocents do not fear the judiciary,” Aoun said. “The judiciary should not be the judiciary of those in power,” Berri swiftly responded. Nidaa al-Watan expected a firm and quick response from Hizbullah. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah might directly respond to Aoun’s stance in a speech he will deliver today, Thursday, on the occasion of Hizbullah Martyr’s Day, the newspaper said.

Geagea Urges Expats to Turn Out Heavily in Elections
Associated Press/November 11/2021
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday urged Lebanese abroad to turn out heavily in the upcoming parliamentary elections. “Lebanon is sick at the moment and it needs an essential surgery, a surgery that is possible and whose success chances are high, if we all pray for Lebanon and grant it our votes,” Geagea said in a message to expats. “I’m addressing you because from afar, you see in a better and clearer way. I’m addressing you because there are no physical, psychological or material pressures on you. I’m addressing you because the success of the surgery of rescuing Lebanon largely hinges on you. You’re the ones who grant it major success chances,” the LF leader added. “That’s why you should register heavily and vote heavily. Lebanon needs your votes and your parents and relatives also need your votes,” Geagea went on to say.

Cyprus Says Migrants Boat from Syria and Lebanon Escorted to Shore
Agence France Presse/November 11/2021
Cypriot police has said a boatload of 61 migrants thought to be from Syria and Lebanon, including 28 children, were escorted to shore in Paphos, on island's east coast. Data showed European Union member Cyprus was facing "demographic change" and "acute socio-economic effects" as a result the migrant crisis, said government spokesperson Marios Pelekanos. "A request will be submitted to the European Commission to take action in favor of the Republic of Cyprus, including granting it the right to suspend asylum applications by people entering the country illegally," he told reporters. The Republic of Cyprus says it has the highest number of first-time asylum applications among all 27 EU members relative to its population of roughly one million. It accuses Turkey of orchestrating the crisis by allowing irregular migrants to cross over from the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Cyprus has been divided since Turkish mainland troops invaded the north in 1974 after a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the ruling junta in Athens sought to unite the island with Greece. The 180-kilometre (112-mile) Green Line has split the island from east to west since then, separating the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union's easternmost member, from the self-proclaimed TRNC, recognized only by Ankara. Migrant flows recorded in Cyprus in 2021 were 38 percent higher than for all of last year, said Pelekanos. In the first 10 months of the year, 10,868 irregular migrants arrived in Cyprus, 9,270 having illegally crossed the island's dividing line in a "prescribed and conscious policy by Turkey", he said. The current flows added to the more than 33,000 people already illegally residing in the republic, the government spokesman added. "The percentage of asylum seekers exceeds four percent of the population, when in the rest of the EU front-line countries it does not exceed one percent," Pelekanos said. His remarks came after ministers agreed on a series of measures to tackle the spike in irregular migration at an emergency meeting chaired by President Nicos Anastasiades. Nicosia expected "EU solidarity for the immediate relocation of asylum seekers to other member states, but also the repatriation of asylum seekers to their countries of origin," Pelekanos said. According to the government, 15,000 people have had their asylum applications rejected but cannot be deported because there is no coherent EU policy or agreement with their home countries on sending them back. Pelekanos said Cyprus was calling on the European Commission to offer emergency measures to face a "deteriorating situation".

Football game against Iran fuels Lebanese pride
Najia Houssari/Arab News/November 11/2021
BEIRUT: The Iranian national football team has visited Lebanon on several occasions to compete in the Asian qualifiers. But this week, the Iranian team arrived in a very different set of circumstances, playing Lebanon on Thursday amid a wave of political quarreling and accusations that Tehran is taking over the country and isolating it from its Arab surroundings.
The match, which Iran won 2-1, had sparked a renewed sense of patriotism among the Lebanese for the World Cup 2022 qualifiers.
The Lebanese goal, scored in the first half, put a smile on the faces of the Lebanese, who are drowning in misfortunes.
But while the match sparked national pride among Lebanese supporters, many created fake social media accounts to support the Iranian team and the Wilayat Al-Faqih, the term used to describe the system of governance that Tehran has used since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Although most fans admit that the Lebanese team “lacks equipment, training, physical fitness, and overall readiness due to the financial, economic and institutional crises in Lebanon,” their hearts, as they said, are with the “Cedar men.” Even politicians encouraged the Lebanese national team.
Independent MP Fouad Makhzoumi wrote: “The hearts of all the Lebanese are with our national football team.”
Activist Mounir Khater tweeted: “The vast majority of the Lebanese are united behind their national football team. The Lebanese love their country, except for a few whose minds have been plagued by ignorance, and the national concept has mixed with the sectarian concept.”
The game took place at the Rafic Hariri Municipal Stadium in Sidon, southern Lebanon, but FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation ruled that fans were not allowed “for security reasons.”
Sports experts regretted that this measure deprived the Lebanese team of its “motivation factor.”No television channel covered the game, with fans only able to watch it live on YouTube.
FIFA consulted a private security company that had recently conducted an assessment of the security situation in Lebanon. “The report was based on the Tayouneh incident that took place in October,” said Hashem Haidar, head of the Lebanese Football Association.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports addressed a letter to FIFA stressing “the stability of Lebanon and the possibility of allowing fans to attend the game,” but to no avail. Outside the stadium, the Iranian-Lebanese sporting face-off took an entirely different turn. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV tried to please the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese audience by wishing the Lebanese team success. Meanwhile, an online account with the name Abu Ali Qobeisi called for a gathering in Beirut to support the Iranian team. “Good luck to the Lebanese team against the Iranian occupation,” an activist tweeted. Another said: “How shameful and despicable are people from the so-called Islamic resistance environment affiliated to the Hezbollah gang in Lebanon who are encouraging the Iranian team in a game against the Lebanese team, of which we are proud. “What a bunch of malicious spies. Lebanon will forever be number one.”
Political activist Carlos Nafaa said: “If Lebanon were to score against Iran, Hezbollah would file a request to dismiss the referee,” in reference to the numerous requests to dismiss Tarek Bitar, the judge leading the investigation into the Beirut port blast, whom Hezbollah has accused of “politicizing the probe.”When the Iranian players arrived at Beirut airport two days ago carrying large amounts of luggage, some Lebanese said that their bags could contain “weapons or cash for Hezbollah since the team’s short stay does not require that many bags.”
This prompted the interior minister to ask airport security to “investigate the luggage and submit a detailed report in order to take appropriate measures in this regard.”Further controversy has surrounded comedian Hussein Kaouk, who has been doing sketches on Al-Jadeed TV as a Shiite young man who lives in the southern suburb of Beirut and is affiliated with Hezbollah and the Amal movement. Since he started sarcastically playing this character, Kaouk has been heavily criticized by Hezbollah supporters, some of whom have sent him death threats. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech before the football match ended during which he attacked Saudi Arabia and those criticizing him in Lebanon.

Agency. Not surrender
Ronnie Chatah/Now Lebanon/November 11/2021
Ronnie Chatah draws on the history of post-2005 Lebanese elections and shows that Hezbollah has stood as a primary obstacle to any functioning government. Only full sovereignty combined with free elections would allow Lebanon to implement much-needed reforms, he writes.
Over the past weeks, I have been visiting dignitaries, diplomats from local embassies, brave activists and tireless NGO representatives. Let alone current ministers and members of established parties. And I have had heated exchanges with all the above, some degenerating into public arguments. In my opinion, at least, for the right reasons. I think I am misunderstood when I repeatedly make the case that the issue of Hezbollah is beyond our control. This is in no way an avoidance of the local changes that are possible or a dismissal of next year’s parliamentary elections. On the contrary, even if the effect is marginal, the smallest of steps in the right direction are critical. I will unpack my larger point and hopefully bring what too often turns into a fiery debate to a calming conclusion.
Narrative & sovereignty
My life revolves around persuasion. Whether through the podcast, this weekly column or any other outlet that tolerates my tone. In any event I am invited to offer my take, and in chance encounters where my opinion is asked, I provide narrative. And I hope my words attract anyone to the cause of restoring this country’s sovereignty.This is not a slapstick issue. And it is not a point meant to be buried in the footnotes of policy memos or index of position papers. I firmly believe that 1970 was the last time Lebanon was governable. I know how ungovernable it has been for most of the time since, having grown up in our dysfunctional climate of inefficient confessional power-sharing gone wrong. My generation rode the post-civil war rollercoaster of periods of short-lived stability and growth combined with the suffocation of aspirations under Syrian occupation, debt-ridden kickbacks to Assad’s collaborators in Lebanon and repeated battles between Hezbollah and Israel. This is anything but post-war. Two foreign armies remained in Lebanon – Israel quitting in May 2000 and Syria exiting in April 2005. And an Iranian funded proxy army filled the Syrian vacuum, thereafter, bringing us where we are today.
We host an external power’s military base. We had no ability to implement the Baabda Declaration and distance ourselves from the Syrian war because of that sponsor’s role in preserving the Assad regime. We paid a humanitarian price for the years of suffering inflicted by Assad’s henchmen on Syrian civilians. And we stored that regime’s deadliest of weapons meters away from Beirut’s residents. This is anything but post-war. Two foreign armies remained in Lebanon – Israel quitting in May 2000 and Syria exiting in April 2005. And an Iranian funded proxy army filled the Syrian vacuum, thereafter, bringing us where we are today.Every foreign policy decision taken is dependent on Iran’s green light. And every local security measure implemented caters to Hezbollah’s security concerns. If there is one crucial demand left unfulfilled, it is the aspirations of what drove over one million Lebanese to the streets on March 14, 2005.
Our independence.
What we lost in 1970, the moment we opened our borders to Fatah, the PLO and the Arab-Israeli war. And what we have yet to regain…the immeasurable consequence of remaining a perpetual battlefield for over five decades, rather than the region’s metropole.
Which brings me back to narrative, and what I do for a living. There is no shame in standing up for the principles of March 14. Voices discrediting that movement are missing the point – the individuals that we curse today are figures tolerated by Hezbollah. The rest, all members of March 14, are no longer with us, and the responsibility there lies directly with that group’s assassins.We moved from oversight from Damascus to dominion from Tehran and could not persuade the last civil war militia to dislodge its Iranian tentacles and join the Lebanese army. The chess-like moves made by March 14 parties for either political survivability or petty pandering circle back to exactly what Hezbollah inherited: the Syrian regime’s ability to further pervert our politics, eliminate those that stand in the way, and guarantee the collapse of our plundered economy.
Chastising March 14’s attempts while ignoring Hezbollah’s role in its elimination solves nothing.
Elections & agency
With the exception of an abundance of ego-driven career politicians (and more recent influencers that think their social media followers are enough to win elections), anyone willing to put their credibility and independent thoughts to the test in the jungle that is Lebanon’s politics deserves some admiration. Even in the better of times of our short-lived post-1943 and pre-civil war history, challenging the family dynasty of political parties and standing for the state without confessional bent was a painstaking task. It is no wonder that, despite criticism for his military role and powers granted to his Deuxème Bureau, Fouad Chehab’s 1958-64 presidency remains an anomaly in Lebanese politics. Yet the institutions many reformists wish to see improved and functioning are from those six years of history. And, in my mind, the challenge is to build on what was possible in the 1960s rather than ignoring our history and wrongly assuming we can start a country over from scratch. Herein lies my hesitation with wholeheartedly subscribing to the power of parliamentary elections. Ignoring the presidency and prime ministerial battles of the civil war years, and the Syrian-sponsored usual suspects that dominated our lives until April 2005 (many until today), and to avoid writing a dissertation in this section, I will limit myself to looking at the wider outcome of the June 2005, June 2009 and May 2018 elections. June 2005 saw a majority win for March 14-backed candidates. Many of these were sovereignty-oriented and reform-minded individuals, along with capable ministers allotted portfolios reflecting their background and expertise. Rather than working exclusively on rebuilding the state, within months dozens of MPs were forced into hiding or holed up in security-monitored hotels. Targeted killings against March 14 figures became the norm. Following the July 2006 War and Hezbollah’s turnaround regarding UNSCR 1701’s implementation, a permanent sit-in in downtown Beirut and paralysis against what Hezbollah deemed a Feltman-backed government turned the 2005 election on its head.
Hezbollah-led battles in May 2008 forced a national unity government out of the Doha Agreement, rendering electoral wins ineffective. Politics by proxy defined real power on the ground, a form of political violence dressed in confessional consensus-garb. Yet in June 2009, the majority of Lebanese once again voted in a March 14 electoral win. And half a year later, condemning pending indictments issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Hezbollah withdrew its support for the cabinet in January 2011, forcing Saad Hariri’s first of many future resignations.
In my mind, the challenge is to build on what was possible in the 1960s rather than ignoring our history and wrongly assuming we can start a country over from scratch.
The May 2018 election outcome was Hezbollah’s political dream come true. National unity no longer forced through weapons but an outcome of collateral status quo politicians, designed to shield the militia from security encroachments through rotten politics better at robbing what was left of the Lebanese state rather than governing, accelerating a financial crisis that led to our most recent uprising on October 17, 2019.
Even today, the moment Judge Tarek Bitar’s port blast investigation probes too deeply, Hezbollah threatens to resign from the current government it helped establish (in addition to threatening a return to civil war) and prevents the cabinet from meeting.
In terms of systemic obstacles, nothing has changed. And if my skepticism towards electoral wins gets the better of me, it comes from wanting reform-minded politicians to not just win seats but have the agency to implement change.
It is clear that long-term structural change is impossible as it directly confronts Hezbollah. Limited cosmetic change is, however, possible, and this is not meant to sound condescending. Accomplishments, no matter how small, that alleviate suffering today are desperately needed. And if an unexpected window of opportunity arrives where the regional temperature cools down on Lebanon (acknowledging Russia-backed Syria’s detrimental potential at filling that void), reform-minded politicians should be in power and ready to take charge.
Yet time is not on our side, and what we refer to as Lebanon may not be salvageable by then. Finding a way to create that window of opportunity is essential.
Iran & foreign policy
Had Hezbollah been a Lebanese militia, only, we would refer to them as any other Lebanese political party. They would have disarmed with the end of the civil war. Imposed sub-state legitimacy post-Taif Accords is over – Israel withdrew in 2000, and a sliver of unoccupied real estate, the Shebaa Farms (whether they are Syrian or Lebanese) do not justify Hezbollah’s arsenal and military capabilities. Syria’s leverage over that group equally subsided after their own departure in 2005. We are left with an Iranian-sponsored proxy army. And Lebanese do not have the tools necessary to address that geopolitical issue at home. Lebanon’s state-to-state relations with Iran are Hezbollah’s relations with Iran. And Iran’s official embassy and ambassador to this country is a side show – their diplomatic channel is their fully funded military-security matrix based in Lebanon. It would be foolish to expect civil society members and political activists to have more influence at addressing this issue than Lebanese officials before them. Hezbollah targets anyone that steps into their security paradigm, and assassinations are a staple of the post-2005 political landscape.
Perhaps by design – and in stark contrast to Assad’s old ways of intimidation – the group allows us to challenge them directly, and daily. If not by the hour, every minute, across television screens and social media platforms. Public opinion, or for that matter the national and regional political capital they once accumulated as a fighting force against Israel has been squandered, and the group does not care. If my skepticism towards electoral wins gets the better of me, it comes from wanting reform-minded politicians to not just win seats but have the agency to implement change.
Persuasion and narrative, along with parliamentary elections, do little, if anything, to influence Hezbollah’s decisions. It is essential that any country negotiating with Iran puts our case on the table. If we had that ability ourselves, there would be no justifiable reason to push for the internationalization of this issue. But the same factors that led to the Cairo Agreement in 1969 are a mirror reflection of our decades-long nightmare – our destroyed sovereignty. A regional understanding that Lebanon must no longer serve as a warzone is imperative. Sidestepping Hezbollah is sidestepping Lebanon. I want reformers to win, and the geopolitical quagmire to end, so that we can finally address rampant corruption, lack of accountability, how to better manage sectarianism and bring an end to impunity. Finding a path for Iran – or any country – to reconsider their security needs without Lebanon’s geography gives us a chance at our survival, and election victories their vitality. It is a question of agency. Not surrender.
*Ronnie Chatah hosts The Beirut Banyan podcast, a series of storytelling episodes and long-form conversations that reflect on all that is modern Lebanese history. He also leads the WalkBeirut tour, a four-hour narration of Beirut’s rich and troubled past. He is on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @thebeirutbanyan.
*The opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOW.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 11-12/2021
Syria Inks Solar Plant Deal with UAE Firms
Agence France Presse/November 11/2021
Syria has signed a deal with United Arab Emirates firms for the construction of a solar power plant near Damascus, state media said Thursday, in a sign of growing economic ties. The accord comes two days after UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan met President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus in the first such visit since the start of Syria's war. The visit was widely seen as a sign of regional efforts to end Assad's diplomatic isolation as Syria grapples with a spiraling economic crisis caused by years of conflict and compounded by Western sanctions. "The ministry of electricity and a consortium of Emirati firms have signed a cooperation agreement to establish a solar power plant with a 300-megawatt capacity," in the suburbs of Damascus, the official SANA news agency said. The Syrian government initially approved the project last month, with Economy Minister Samer al-Khalil calling it a positive sign for future investments in Syria. At the time, the UAE's economy ministry said it agreed with Syria on "future plans to enhance economic cooperation and explore new sectors". The UAE severed relations with the Iran-backed government in Damascus in February 2012, nearly a year after the start of the Syrian war. The 11-year conflict erupted with nationwide protests demanding regime change that were met with a brutal government crackdown. It escalated into a devastating war that drew in a host of regional and international powers, and killed nearly half-a-million people. In December 2018 the UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus, and in March this year it called for Syria to return to the Arab League. The war in Syria has ravaged the country's power grids causing round-the-clock electricity cuts now compounded by fuel shortages.  Losses sustained by the energy sector since the start of the war amount to about "100 billion dollars in direct and indirect damages", Syria's economy minister said last month. Also last month, the electricity ministry signed a $115 million contract with an Iranian firm to rehabilitate a power station in a central province of the war-torn country.

UAE's Embrace of Syria Could Lead to More Arab Overtures
Associated Press/November 11/2021
A visit by the United Arab Emirates' top diplomat this week may have turned a page for Syria's embattled autocratic president, enabling more Arab countries to re-engage with Bashar Assad. That would be a major shift in a region that for a decade ostracized Assad, supported his adversaries and worked with the U.S. to seek a negotiated settlement of the Syria conflict. Syria's civil war has displaced half of its population, killed hundreds of thousands and driven the country's economy into the ground. Following his surprise four-hour trip to Syria's capital of Damascus on Tuesday, the Emirati foreign minister headed to Jordan, which has also reopened channels with Syria after a decade-long rupture. In Amman, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Wednesday with Jordan's King Abdullah II and the two discussed "efforts to reach political solutions to the crisis in the region," a royal court statement said. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi later told CNN that the kingdom, which had hosted Assad's armed opposition for years, needed to be practical and consider its national interests, at a time when a resolution to the Syria conflict seems elusive. Jordan has been hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and is experiencing a sharp economic downturn, including rising unemployment. It recently reopened its borders with Syria, exchanged state visits and restored flights between Amman and Damascus.
If such contacts between Syria and some of the Arab nations lead to formal reconciliation, it would be a boon for Syria's struggling economy, including a tanking national currency and dried up government coffers. Syria will also require massive investments in reconstruction. Rapprochement would also mean an Arab push into Syria, where Iran — the main rival of Arab Gulf nations — has had a presence on the ground through proxy militias for years. As Washington appears to be disengaging from the region, withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and reorienting its focus toward the strategic challenges posed by a rising China, Arab players are stepping up their game in the conflict-ridden region. "Everyone is talking to everyone," said one Arab diplomat based in the Middle East, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. For example, Iraq has been hosting talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, its regional archival. Now the Emirates' embrace of Syria is a test for whether re-engaging Syria's strongman could possibly lead to some concessions that years of sanctions and boycott have failed to realize.
Bringing Syria back into the Arab fold could reduce Iranian and Turkish influence. Dealing with Assad, whose forces have been blamed for most of the war's atrocities, appears to be a risk worth taking as the Emiratis seek to hedge their bets in the region. "If we can have peace with various countries, Syria should be one of the most significant and important ones in the Middle East," said Amjad Taha, an Emirati analyst. "Syria should not be left alone. If the Iranians are there and if the Russians are there, so should the Arabs." The Emirates are pursuing high-stakes foreign policy, normalizing relations with Israel and taking steps to engage Qatar and Turkey diplomatically after years of a political standoff, vitriol and support for opposing sides in regional conflicts. Syria's ruling party mouthpiece hailed the visit of the Emirati foreign minister as a "genuine pan-Arab step" after what it described as years of illusions that Assad and his government could be replaced through war.
The Emirates have been lobbying in international forums such as the World Health Organization for more aid for Syria and could expand such calls. The UAE could also encourage Syrian-Emirati businesses if there are no threats of the use of sanctions to block it. Arab countries will be watching to see what the Emirates get out of this resumption of relations before rushing in. There are already Emirati-led efforts to lobby Arab countries to bring Syria back into the Arab League, said Taha, the analyst, calling it a major effort despite few Arab objections. The next summit is in Algeria early next year.
Damascus could offer gestures that indicate a reduction in Iranian influence. Russia, another major Syrian ally, has already expanded its presence in some areas of Syria at the expense of Iran, either to assuage Israel or the United States but mostly in the interest of improving its grip on affairs in Syria. "The Syria that we knew is over," said Ibrahim Hamidi, a London-based Syrian journalist who covers domestic affairs for the Saudi-based Ashraq al-Awsat newspaper. "The Syria that could play a regional role is over. Syria is destroyed and is busy with its own problems."
Syria's opposition and Washington could put a damper on this new direction. Assad himself could also scuttle this new open embrace, by either failing to offer any concessions or by seeking to play different actors against one another. U.S. sanctions could put a limit on how far everyone can go and could be used as a tool to block investment. Joel Rayburn, former U.S. envoy to Syria and a fellow at the New America Foundation, said efforts to normalize relations with Syria will always be limited by the U.S.'s unwillingness to see Assad rehabilitated and by "Assad's permanent unwillingness to do the bare minimum the 'normalizers' require to justify their appeasement."

Sudan General Burhan Names Council to Steer Transition after Coup
Agence France Presse/November 11/2021
Sudan's de facto ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Thursday named a new transitional council to steer the country after his coup in October, state television reported. Burhan, who led the ruling Sovereign Council formed in 2019 after the toppling of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir, will keep his position as head of the council. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, leader of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, remains his deputy.

Sudan’s civilian coalition rejects talks with military, wants Burhan out
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
KHARTOUM--Sudan’s main civilian political coalition has rejected any negotiation with the military on Wednesday, furthering complicating prospects for a breakthrough in the Sudan crisis since the coup of October 25 led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
A statement attributed to spokesman Alwathiq Elbereir said the Forces of Freedom and Change, which had signed a 2019 power-sharing agreement with the military following the ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir, rejected the coup and had had no meeings with the military.
The coalition said it supported Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who is under house arrest, had not met him, but joined him in demanding a return to pre-coup conditions. “We did not break the partnership … and we must return to the constitutional document,” said another FFC spokesman, adding that the coup happened after civilians brought certain contentious issues to the table. “The coup does not represent the military institution,” the spokesman added, saying the coalition would not accept the return of Burhan in the head of state position he held before the coup. Several civilian politicians and officials were arrested following the coup, and Elbereir said they were facing pressures that were endangering their lives. Mediation attempts since the takeover have stalled and while lower-level appointments have been made, neither a cabinet nor head of state Sovereign council has been named.
Burhan has said he is committed to the democratic transition and elections in July 2023. Burhan is under international pressure to reverse his actions. The UN Security Council will be briefed on Sudan by UN special envoy Volker Perthes during a closed-door meeting on Thursday, diplomats said.
Resistance committees have called for “marches of millions” on November 13 and 17 which the FFC said it supported. The committees are organising under the slogan: “No negotiations, no partnership, no legitimacy.” The committees, although struggling under an internet blackout, brought out hundreds of thousands of people in an anti-military protest on October 30. They have also threatened a campaign of general strikes and civil disobedience. The Coordinating Committee for Refugees and Displaced People announced that camp residents in Darfur and southern regions of the country would be joining the November 13 protests. On Wednesday, the Sudanese Teachers Committee said 13 teachers had been arrested in South Darfur, joining others arrested earlier this week in Khartoum.

Iraqi Kurdistan wants to address ‘root causes’ of migrant flow
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
ERBIL, Iraq --The government of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, the source of hundreds of the migrants stuck at the Polish-Belarus border, said Wednesday it wanted to address the “root causes” of the problems pushing its citizens to emigrate. Concern is growing for more than 2,000 migrants, mainly Kurds from the Middle East, who are trapped at the border, with the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday over the issue. Western governments accuse Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of luring them to his country and sending them to cross into European Union and NATO member Poland in retaliation for EU sanctions. “Regional security issues and the effects of the global recession” are among the factors pushing youth from Kurdistan to emigrate, said Kurdistan Regional Government spokesperson Jotiar Adil. “The KRG is committed to addressing the root causes of this phenomenon” and would set up a committee to provide recommendations to the cabinet, Adil said in a statement. “It will also continue to implement reforms aimed at creating more job opportunities for the youth and improving the quality of life for all people in the Kurdistan region.”“The KRG also urges the Iraqi government to help mitigate the situation by ensuring the Kurdistan region’s full share of the budget is sent on time and to not withhold public salaries,” the statement added. Kurdistan, an autonomous area in northern Iraq, presents itself as a haven of relative stability, but is often criticised for restricting freedom of expression. The region has been ruled for decades by two parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Last May, the UN denounced “arbitrary arrests”, unfair trials and “intimidation of journalists, activists and protesters” in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Lack of economic prospects
Several Iraqi Kurds have said that a lack of economic prospects and security instability were behind their desire to leave. “Our life is awful,” says Iraqi taxi driver Himen Gabriel, who no longer believes he has a future in his war-battered country and says he is about to try to reach Europe. He will not say whether he will try to enter the EU across the Belarus-Poland border like thousands of others, but is determined to leave his home in Erbil. Sporting a long, black beard and a fashionable haircut, Himen, 28, says he has no professional prospects, blaming local systems of patronage and nepotism. He pointed to his four brothers, saying “all have degrees and none has found a job in the public sector because they do not belong to any political party.”He prefers not to say whether his travel itinerary will include Belarus where up to 4,000 migrants, many of them Kurds, now huddle in improvised camps in freezing weather.
Belarus tourist visas
Gabriel remains convinced that even an arduous and dangerous journey is worth it, given the prospect of “leading a quiet life” in Europe. About 3,000 Kurds have left the region in the past three months, of whom 1,600 have gone to Belarus on tourist visas, according to the Kurdistan Refugee Association. The Belarus honorary consul in Erbil, Fouad Mamend, said that they were using travel agencies to obtain tourist visas and tickets for indirect flights to Minsk, since direct flights had now been halted. He added that the Belarus missions in Erbil and in Baghdad had now been “closed for a week at the request of the Iraqi government”. The head of the foreign relations committee in Kurdistan’s regional parliament, Rebouar Babki, said “initiatives are under way to bring these migrants back … but some of them are not in favour of returning”. In Baghdad, the federal government said it would allocate $200,000 dollars “to help Iraqis stranded in Belarus, Lithuania and Poland.”

Turkish defence firm to test sea-based drones as part of arms export push
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
ISTANBUL--The Turkish defence company whose armed drones were decisive in conflicts in Azerbaijan and Libya will soon test-fly two new unmanned aircraft that will extend Turkey’s drone capabilities from land-based to naval operations, its CEO said on Wednesday. Haluk Bayraktar, one of two engineer brothers running the defence firm Baykar, said the new aircraft would be tested in the next two years and would be able to take off from a Turkish navy ship currently under production. Turkey’s deployment of the company’s Bayraktar TB2 drone has been a major factor in conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Azerbaijan, pushing Baykar into the spotlight and transforming it into a major manufacturer and exporter. Drones have also provided a boost for Turkey’s regional military incursions and projection of power. The Turkish-backed then-Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli used TB2 drones in 2020 as part of its campaign to push back an assault by the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The Qatar Air Force is operating six drones as of 2021. The firm has now signed export deals with 13 countries including a joint production deal with Ukraine, as its products help reshape the way modern wars are fought, Bayraktar said. The scale of Turkey’s drone programme puts it in the world’s top four producers alongside the United States, Israel and China, analysts say. “Smart, unmanned aircraft systems are the two leading technologies that changed the landscape for power projection,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of defence show in Istanbul. “As everyone is talking about how drone technology is changing battle doctrines … one of our next objectives is the TB3 drone, capable of taking off from and landing on TCG Anadolu,” Bayraktar said, referring to a planned Turkish light aircraft carrier. Although the ship will be able to carry combat helicopters on its landing deck, Turkey does not operate a plane that can take off from the vessel. The TB3, with a folding-wing design, could deploy from the short naval runways. With some sections under production, it is expected to see first test flight next year, Bayraktar said. It will be followed by an unmanned combat aircraft, called MUIS, with the first prototype flight expected in 2023, he said. Currently in design phase, MUIS will be jet-powered, with a payload of up to 1.5 tons. The autonomously-manoeuvring craft will be capable of operating in tandem with piloted aircraft and may carry air-to-air missiles, the company said.
Export push
Baykar, founded in the 1980s by Bayraktar’s father, began to focus on unmanned aircraft production in 2005 as Turkey sought to strengthen its local defence industry. Now it is spearheading Turkey’s global defence export push. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose daughter is married to Baykar’s chief technology officer Selcuk Bayraktar, says international demand for TB2 and the newer Akinci drone is big. “Everywhere, even in my Africa trip, they want drones, armed drones and Akinci,” he told Baykar workers last month after returning from a trip to Angola, Togo and Nigeria. “The whole world … want to see and to know what you are doing.”The first Akinci drone, which has longer flight time and can carry a larger payload than the TB2, was delivered to the Turkish military in August. Despite the growing demand, the use of Turkish-made drones in eastern Ukraine against Russian-backed militia has been criticised by the Kremlin. The planned sale to Ethiopia, mired in civil war and at odds with Egypt, has caused friction with Cairo. Bayraktar said Turkey had made a “huge leap” in its effort to create its own defence industry over the last 20 years, expanding from 17 companies to nearly 17,000. “The drone technology is just one success story born from the national and indigenous development drive,” he said. “We started to reap the benefits of work that began two decades ago only recently.”

Move on corruption cases threatens efforts to create political truce in Kuwait
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
KUWAIT CITY--Kuwaiti political sources told The Arab Weekly on Thursday that efforts by Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah to ease tensions between the legislature and executive could collapse anytime soon. This comes as the majority of opposition lawmakers is refusing to submit to the logic of silence that would reduce them to a “formal opposition,” in exchange for an amnesty that would benefit political dissidents. The same sources indicated that there were also divisions among the opposition MPs. Some lawmakers, the sources said, are in favour of a political truce, notably MPs who participated in the national dialogue with the resigned government and submitted a petition to obtain amnesty for political prisoners. Other lawmakers, however, reject political bargaining and any engagement in a process that might end up “domesticating” the opposition. The supporters of the political truce, the sources said, are feeling embarrassed today, with their conservative colleagues insisting on their positions when it comes issues that have always been a source of tension between the executive and legislature, including the corruption file, which have topped the agenda of the current term of the National Assembly.
Eleven opposition MPs demanded on Monday a comprehensive parliamentary investigation into suspected corruption, in which former and current lawmakers and ministers have allegedly been involved since 2009. In a motion submitted to the National Assembly, the lawmakers called for the forming a five-MP investigation committee which will probe former MPs, ministers and senior state officials suspected of being involved in corruption. According to the motion, the panel should be elected by the Assembly and must submit the outcome of its enquiry within three months. The investigation should include money transfers into the suspects’ bank accounts or that of their companies since they assumed public office. It should also cover the ownership of real estate, investments and industrial, agricultural and service land plots, normally offered by the state.
The committee should also probe tenders and contracts at all ministries including Kuwait Petroleum Corp and its subsidiaries and arms deals, especially the Caracal, Eurofighters and Rafael purchases.
Over the last few years, Kuwait has been shaken by a series of scandals related to suspicions of financial corruption, including inflated accounts, suspected money laundering, dubious deals, stock exchange manipulation and other financial, administrative and legal abuses. Among the suspects were prominent state figures, including sheikhs from the ruling family and dozens of deputies, including 12 MPs in the former National Assembly. According to observers, the scandals constituted a considerable embarrassment for the emirate, which has been hit hard by lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic. Kuwait’s unusual combination of an emir-appointed government and an elected parliament frequently gives rise to wrangling that analysts say impedes the country’s economic and social progress. The parliament can introduce legislation and question ministers, though the country’s emir retains ultimate authority and ruling family members hold senior posts. Political deadlock has for decades led to government reshuffles and dissolutions of parliament, hampering investment and reform. The government started a dialogue with MPs to break the impasse, with the opposition demanding an amnesty pardoning dissidents and to be able to question Sheikh Sabah, who has been premier since late 2019. Parliament Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim had earlier announced that two emiri decrees had been issued for the amnesty, after the cabinet approved the drafts on November 7, saying this presented “a new page” for Kuwait to focus on “important pending matters.”

Iraqi PM Tours Baghdad Area Days after Assassination Attempt
Associated Press/November 11/2021
Iraq's prime minister has toured a Baghdad neighborhood on foot, three days after he escaped an assassination attempt at his home in the Iraqi capital. In his first public appearance outside his residence since the attack, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's office said some residents of the eastern neighborhood of Sadr City congratulated him for surviving Sunday's drone attack, in which he was lightly injured. The failed attempt ratcheted up tensions following last month's parliamentary elections, in which Iran-backed militias were the biggest losers. There was no claim of responsibility but suspicion immediately fell on the militias. They had been blamed for previous attacks on the Green Zone, which also houses foreign embassies. Some analysts have surmised that Sunday's attack was staged by those who lost in the recent election and was aimed at cutting off the path that could lead to a second al-Kadhimi term.
Sadr City is a stronghold of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who won the largest number of parliament seats, 73 out of 329. While he maintains good relations with Iran, al-Sadr publicly opposes external interference in Iraq's affairs. Sadr City was named after al-Sadr's late father, Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, who was shot dead along with two of his sons in the southern city of Najaf in 1999 when Iraq was under the rule of President Saddam Hussein. Al-Kadhimi called for launching a reconstruction campaign in Sadr City, where explosions and suicide attacks have left hundreds of people dead or wounded over the years. He added that such a campaign could be followed by a move to rebuild Baghdad and other provinces. Al-Kadhimi on Sunday suffered a light cut and appeared in a televised speech soon after the attack wearing a white shirt and what appeared to be a bandage around his left wrist. Seven of his security guards were wounded in the attack using at least two armed drones. Al-Kadhimi, 54, was Iraq's former intelligence chief before becoming prime minister in May last year. He is considered by the militias to be close to the U.S., and has tried to balance Iraq's alliances with both the U.S. and Iran.

Gulf States in First Joint Naval Exercise with Israel
Agence France Presse/November 11/2021
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are holding their first joint naval exercise with Israel, a year after normalizing ties with the Jewish state, the US Navy said on Thursday. The five-day maneuvers in the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, are intended to "enhance interoperability between participating forces", a statement said. "It is exciting to see US forces training with regional partners to enhance our collective maritime security capabilities," said Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, or NAVCENT.
"Maritime collaboration helps safeguard freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade, which are essential to regional security and stability." The exercises, which began on Wednesday, include boarding, search and seizure training on the USS Portland, an amphibious transport dock ship.
It is the first publicly announced military cooperation by the UAE and Bahrain with Israel since they opened diplomatic relations in September last year. The normalization agreements, which also involved Morocco and Sudan, broke with decades of Arab consensus that there should be no diplomatic ties without a resolution to the Palestinian conflict. Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and the United States share concerns about Iran, which has previously been accused of orchestrating attacks on shipping in the region. The Red Sea borders Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting alongside government forces against Iran-backed rebels since 2015. It lies next to the Gulf of Aden, which saw a rash of attacks on shipping by Somali-based pirates in the first decade of the 21st century before patrols by navies from around the world largely halted them.

Incoming CEO of Israeli Spyware Firm NSO Steps Down
Agence France Presse/November 11/2021
The designated chief executive of NSO, the Israeli firm infamous for phone hacking, is resigning less than two weeks after being nominated, a source close to the company said Thursday. Isaac Benbenisti was tapped last week to succeed founder and CEO Shalev Hulio, who was to have become global president and vice chairman of the board. NSO's Pegasus software can switch on a phone's camera or microphone and harvest its data. It was at the center of a storm in July after a list of about 50,000 potential surveillance targets worldwide was leaked to the media. The management shake-up at NSO comes after the United States on November 3 blacklisted the company for enabling "foreign governments to conduct transnational repression."NSO as well as the Israeli company Candiru and firms based in Singapore and Russia were targeted for restrictions on U.S. exports. The source close to NSO who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said "because of the crisis with the U.S... Shalev decided that he still will sit on the chair of the CEO." As a result, the source said Benbenisti left the company. NSO says its Pegasus software helps fight crime, but investigators have found its software on the phones of journalists and dissidents. On Monday a European rights group said Pegasus was used to hack phones of the staff of Palestinian civil society groups that Israel has deemed terrorist organizations. The groups deny the charge.

Israel Holds 'War Drill' in Case of New Covid Strain
Agence France Presse/November 11/2021
In what it called a world first, Israel on Thursday held a "war game drill" in case of an outbreak of a new lethal variant of Covid-19. Civilian and military officials took part in the exercises, named "Omega" after the supposed strain, held at Jerusalem's nuclear blast-proof National Management Center. The simulation covered different aspects of a crisis, including mass inoculation, ordering curfews and imposing a flight ban, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said. "The State of Israel is in an excellent situation. We beat the fourth wave and we are on our way toward exiting the Delta variant. However, at the same time, we are always looking ahead... We are not 'closing up shop'," it said. Bennett, on a visit to the center, said the biggest threat was "what we do not know yet, more dangerous and more contagious variants of Delta that are resistant to the vaccine that can crop up all of a sudden"."In order to simulate a real situation", the drill -- a "first of its kind in the world" -- was organized in three sessions to reflect the passage of time between various scenarios. Israel was the first country to launch a mass booster campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 3.9 million people getting a third dose since the summer. In late August and early September, however, cases of Covid infection rose to more than 10,000 a day, a number that has since fallen to just a few hundred.About 80 percent of Israel's nine-million population have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Palestinian PM warns Israel over perpetuation of ‘apartheid’ system
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
RAMALLAH, West Bank –The Palestinian prime minister warned Israel on Wednesday that its refusal to accept a two-state solution to the century-old conflict would perpetuate a system of “apartheid” and eventually result in a one-state reality in which Israel loses its Jewish character. The Israeli government sworn in last June consists of parties from across the political spectrum, including supporters and opponents of Palestinian statehood. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and has refused to meet Palestinian officials. At a press conference with foreign reporters, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Bennett of “three no’s”: No to meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, no to peace negotiations and no to a Palestinian state. “If you have three no’s, what are your yes’s?” Shtayyeh asked. It appeared to be a reference to the famous “Three No’s” adopted by the Arab League after the 1967 war: No peace with Israel, no recognition and no negotiations. Since then, Egypt and Jordan have made peace with Israel and an additional four Arab countries recognised it last year. Shtayyeh reiterated the Palestinians’ long-standing demands for a negotiated peace agreement that would create a Palestinian state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, territories Israel seized in the 1967 war. He called on the United States and the international community to do more to revive the long-dormant peace process. Israel says it made generous offers to the Palestinians in past rounds of peace talks going back to the 1990s, while the Palestinians say those proposals fell short of their rights under international law. The two sides have held no substantive peace talks in more than a decade. Israel rejects allegations of apartheid made by two prominent human rights groups earlier this year, accusing them of bias and of unfairly singling it out. The current government says that because of its divisions it has adopted a middle-ground in which it will neither annex territory nor establish a Palestinian state. But it is actively expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians and much of the international community say undermines any hope of an eventual partition. The government has also taken some steps to improve life in the occupied territories. Shtayyeh said Palestinians now outnumber Jews in Israel and the occupied territories, with 6.9 million Palestinians and 6.7 million Jews between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, without providing a source. Israelis and Palestinians debate the exact figures, but experts generally agree that the populations are approaching parity.
Israel’s population of more than 9 million includes nearly 7 million Jews and 2 million Palestinian citizens. More than 2 million Palestinians live in Gaza and nearly 3 million live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but the Palestinians and much of the international community view it as part of the occupied territories. Advocates of a two-state solution of Israel and Palestine living side by side, which is still seen internationally as the only realistic solution, have long warned that if Israel does not create a Palestinian state it will soon rule over a Palestinian majority, forcing it to choose between being a democracy and a Jewish state. “If we lose the two-state solution we are slipping into a one-state reality,” Shtayyeh said, echoing remarks made by Abbas at the UN General Assembly in September. “Israel is an apartheid state today and Israel will continue to be tomorrow as well,” Shtayyeh said. “If they think that we are losing tomorrow, they will be losing after tomorrow.”

Macron’s ‘regrets’ satisfy Algeria but Tebboune will not attend Paris conference
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
ALGIERS--Algeria on Wednesday welcomed comments from the office of French President Emmanuel Macron expressing regret over a row sparked by his criticism of the former French colony. Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra also confirmed Algerian officials would attend a conference on Libya in Paris, although not President Abdelmadjid Tebboune himself. The statement from Macron’s office “contained reasonable ideas that respect Algeria, its history, past and present and respect Algeria’s sovereignty,” Lamamra told Algerian diplomats. Macron had in October accused Algeria’s ruling system of rewriting history and fomenting anti-French hatred, but his office on Tuesday stressed his “greatest respect” for the North African country. The exchange comes as France prepares for a high-level summit Friday on Algeria’s war-torn neighbour Libya, aimed at ensuring elections go ahead in December.
Macron had invited Tebboune to the conference. “It was decided that Algeria would participate in the conference, but not at level of the President of the Republic,” Lamamra said after a meeting in Algiers with Algerian ambassadors. “The conditions are not sufficient (for him) to personally participate in the conference, despite his commitment to the effective role of Algeria alongside Libyan brothers and pushing the Libyan cause to the desired peaceful and democratic solution.”Relations between France and Algeria have been strained for much of the six decades since Algeria won its independence after a brutal war where the French are blamed for atrocities .Since his election in 2017, Macron has gone further than his predecessors in owning up to French abuses during a 130-year occupation, but ties deteriorated again in October after he accused Algeria’s “political-military system” of rewriting the country’s history to foment “hatred towards France”.In remarks to descendants of independence fighters reported by Le Monde, Macron also questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before the French invasion in the 1800s. That sparked a fierce reaction from Algiers, coming after Paris’s decision a month earlier to sharply reduce the number of visas it grants to citizens of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Algiers withdrew its ambassador and banned French military planes from its airspace, which they regularly use to carry out operations in West Africa.
But on Tuesday, a senior official from Macron’s office said “the President of the Republic regrets the controversies and misunderstandings caused by the reported remarks.”The aide added that Macron “has the greatest respect for the Algerian nation and its history and for Algeria’s sovereignty.”
Macron had attempted to mend fences with Tebboune, but the Algerian leader had accused him of criticising Algeria for electoral gains and “completely pointlessly” reviving an old conflict. Both US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to attend the Libya conference.

UN sanctions Houthi militiamen over cross-border attacks, Marib offensive
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
UNITED NATIONS--The UN Security Council has slapped sanctions on three Houthi militiamen linked to cross-border attacks from Yemen into Saudi Arabia and to fighting in the government’s last stronghold in the country’s north. The United Kingdom said Wednesday it proposed the sanctions because the attacks into Saudi Arabia have killed and wounded civilians and because the Houthi offensive in the central desert city of Marib has sought to cut off access to humanitarian aid and includes the use of child soldiers.The three militiamen added to the UN sanctions blacklist are Houthi Chief of General Staff Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, Assistant Defence Minister Saleh Mesfer Saleh Al Shaer and Yusuf al-Madani, a prominent leader in the Houthi forces. According to the UN listing, Al-Ghamari “plays the leading role in orchestrating the Houthis’ military efforts that are directly threatening the peace, security and stability of Yemen, including in Marib, as well as cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia.”Shaer, who is in charge of logistics, “assisted the Houthis in acquiring smuggled arms and weapons,” and as “Judicial Custodian” he was “directly involved in the widespread and unlawful appropriation of assets and entities owned by private individuals under arrest by the Houthis or forced to take refuge outside of Yemen,” the UN said. It said Madani is “commander of forces in Hodeida, Hajjah, Al Mahwit, and Raymah” engaged in activities threatening the peace, security and stability of Yemen. The UN sanctions order all countries to immediately freeze the assets of the three Houthi militiamen and impose a travel ban on them. Their addition brings the number of Yemenis under UN sanctions to nine, including Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi movement, and Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who reportedly died in December 2017. Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi militias took control of the capital of Sana’a and much of the northern part of the country, forcing the internationally-recognised government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power. Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has largely deteriorated into a stalemate and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The US has since suspended its direct involvement in the conflict. In early 2020, the Houthis launched an offensive in the mostly government-held Marib province that has cost the lives of thousands of young people and left thousands of displaced civilians living in constant fear of violence and having to move again.

Clashes continue in Tunisian city over garbage pileup
The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
AGAREB, Tunisia--New clashes broke out Wednesday between residents and police in the Tunisian city of Agareb, home to a landfill that has provoked public fury over waste mismanagement. Agareb hosts the main landfill for nearby Sfax, Tunisia’s second largest city. Local residents have long advocated the closure of El Qena landfill, citing health and environmental concerns. Authorities decided to shut the landfill in September, but had put no alternative plan in place, causing thousands of tons of waste to accumulate in streets and public spaces for over a month. Residents took to the streets last week, saying the government was violating their basic rights. Then on Monday, authorities abruptly reopened the landfill, prompting new protests in Agareb over mismanagement and the lack of a longer-term solution. Police fired tear gas and protesters erected barricades. One man was reported to have died after he was hit by a tear gas canister, though Tunisia’s interior ministry said he had suffered a fatal heart attack at home. The Tunisian army was deployed Tuesday to secure government institutions after protesters set a National Guard headquarters on fire. New protests and clashes broke out Wednesday. Local labour unions called a strike. “The mayor has to think in advance of a place to put the garbage and not leave it until it piles up and then say that he did not find a place for it,” said resident Mohamed Kefi. “We have had more than 40 days of this pollution in the middle of residential neighbourhoods.”Environmental activist Salem Cheari pointed at flies swarming round stinking mounds of garbage by the road. Cheari for years advocated the closure of El Qena landfill. However the garbage build-up led him to feel that the landfill should reopen until a solution is found. “We have waited ten years and there is no shame in waiting for another two months. We must cooperate in taking responsibility. If the state breaks its promises, after two months, I will join the demonstrators,” says Cheari. Tunisia’s environment ministry said in a statement that El Qena had been reopened “to reduce health, environmental and economic risks.” It promised an immediate clean-up of the streets and restructuring of the waste disposal system. The latest troubles pose a challenge for President Kais Saied’s new government as the country finds itself in the midst of a political crisis. Saied froze parliament in July and took on sweeping executive powers to counter political instability that had been threatening the Tunisian state.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 11-12/2021
Sudan’s civilians and military need each other
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
It is difficult to predict how the situation will end up in Sudan, where it seems more than clear that the military has the upper hand despite the presence of an active civil society, which was able to stand up for months to the regime of Omar Hassan al-Bashir in order to eventually topple it and get rid of the backward rule of the Muslim Brotherhood that the regime represented.
The regime fell under the pressure of the street. But much of the credit for its fall goes to the senior officers headed by Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti). Both “convinced” Bashir, in their own way, that he had to go and that there was no hope for him to maintain his Brotherhood regime, even though it was deeply embedded in the military and security services.
There is a need today for a new balance between civilians and the military, one that secures the kind of stability that Sudan seems to need most. In the end, it has become clear that civilians could not rule without the military, who had promised time and time again a transitional period after which elections would take place. Who will secure such a new balance in a system where Abdullah Hamdok, the ousted prime minister, presumably represents the civilian wing in power?
It is necessary to go back to the modern history of Sudan in order to try to understand the power play between civilians and the military. Since Sudan’s independence in 1956, civilians have resorted to the military every time they failed to run the country. The military, on the other hand, have resorted to a civilian front from time to time in order to cover up their inability to govern and find solutions to the successive economic and political crises. Is it possible for the military to impose a new balance and for Burhan and Hemedti to show that the situation will be indeed different, that they can protect the civilian authorities and ensure the needed stability in order for Sudan to address its myriad of serious problems?
Bashir exercised direct military rule until 2019 when he was overthrown by a popular revolution that some senior officers have refused to recognise. By the same token, they have refused to acknowledge this revolution’s right to form an authority responsible for managing Sudan’s affairs, rebuilding its economy and finding solutions to its very complex problems. Every day it becomes clear that Abdullah Hamdouk is not the person singly qualified to run the country and make major decisions. He needs the military’s support and cover, all the time.
Since Omar al-Bashir and his aides have been jailed, Sudan has taken several bold steps, especially in terms of openness to the world and other countries of the region and the lifting of foreign sanctions. However, all these steps seem incomplete in the absence of a deep understanding between civilians and the military. It turned out that reaching such an understanding is almost impossible without conducting an in-depth dialogue that lays the foundations for a different stage that would lead to a new equilibrium, where each party is convinced of its need for the other. The military need the civilians and the civilians need the military. If the military does not reach such a conclusion and continues to blackmail civilians without accepting a kind of distribution of roles between both sides of power, Sudan will remain mired in an endless downward spiral. Civilians, also, need to be convinced that the street revolt is one thing and the exercise of the responsibilities of power, in a complex country like Sudan, is another.
The Sudanese spiral could lead to more crises and internal divisions for which no solution is likely to be found, regardless of international efforts to help Sudan recover and exploit its substantial riches. There is a huge joint responsibility to be shared by the military and civilians, based on one specific conviction, which is that neither side is expendable and that any civilian government needs the protection of the military for the major decisions it will have to make. But the military will not agree to extend its protection of such decisions without a price. They want to be partners in power but also to be partners in making the major decisions. The key choices made by the military, well ahead of the civilians, rendered possible the lifting of international sanctions on Sudan and allowed it to receive aid. How to reach the new balance? This is the fundamental question in Sudan. Each party has to discover that it badly needs the other. Necessity is the mother of inventions, as they say. Will the Sudanese devise a new equation or will they continue to wonder who is the stronger side, the civilians … or the military?

Libya’s zero-sum game
Habib Lassoued/The Arab Weekly/November 11/2021
Libyan watchers will have to pay close attention to developments in the North African country in the coming days. They should expect surprises at any moment, especially with the presidential elections, now that the registration of candidates has started for the first round of the ballot scheduled for December 24.
The House of Representatives decided that presidential elections would take place before the legislative ballot. Now, there are two possibilities. The first is that one of the presidential candidates wins in the first round an absolute majority, (50 percent of the votes plus 1) and is thus declared the winner. But a date for the legislative elections would remain to be set.
The second possibility is that the first round does not produce a winner with an absolute majority, which would require a second round. The date of second round will be set by the Electoral Commission and is likely to coincide with the day of the legislative elections, which could be about 52 days after the first presidential ballot, which puts it on the anniversary of the Libyan uprising, on February 17.
Libya is still divided horizontally and vertically. Its society, authority and military are split. There is no real will to achieve national reconciliation nor unify the armed forces. Indeed, the country is so divided that the main candidates will be unable to travel and campaign all around the country.
Libya’s presidential race is, in this way, unique. Candidates calling for unity find themselves to be the cause of sharp disunity among voters.
So far, all indications are that the country may once again be hurled into a cycle of violence and chaos, as the militias are still keeping their weapons, foreign mercenaries remain stationed in their camps and the trumpets of hatred are still being blown.
If he wins the elections, Haftar will have to exercise his functions from Benghazi or from Sirte, using one of them as a temporary alternative capital. Meanwhile the western region and Tripoli, could actually secede from his authority. Indeed, Libya may be heading for actual partition, as previously threatened by a number of Misratan notables, Brotherhood leaders and warlords.
The so-called February 17 movement, or Revolutionary Current, based in a number of cities, mainly Misrata and Al-Zawiya, wields weapons as well as the keys to wealth in the west of the country, although it is geographically weak. Its influence is virtually limited to the cities of the northwestern coast and the Amazigh regions in the Western Mountains, but insists nonetheless on imposing its will nationwide. It even tells the UN mission and the international community that it will not accept the victory of Haftar or one of the symbols of the former regime, even if that means waging a new war.
There are other figures considering a run for the presidency. The most prominent of them is the Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who has used his term in office as premier since mid-March as a campaign platform. He postures as the representative of the rich, whether they made their wealth under the previous regime or during the past ten years.
Dbeibah tried at first to postpone the elections, in order to give himself and his government more time to prepare for clinching control of the country during the next phase. However, foreign powers pressured the House of Representatives to issue two laws regulating presidential and parliamentary elections, without heeding the criticisms of the State Council, the Brotherhood and their allies. When Dbeibah tried to overstep his boundaries, his government was censured.
All attempts to postpone the elections failed and Dbeibah’s found no support. The premier fell into a trap named Article 12. That article of the election law was drafted by the House of Representatives and custom-tailored to meet the needs of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. It stipulated that whoever wanted to run for president among senior officials must relinquish his public office three months before election day. Haftar did just that and Dbeibah mocked him at first, assuming that the elections would not take place on time.
But when the international community insisted on holding the ballot on schedule, Dbeibah sought to persuade the House of Representatives to amend Article 12 based on a proposal from the Electoral Commission, that was endorsed by the United Nations, Germany and Italy. His proposed amendment would have made it possible for any senior official to run for president if he just gave up his position before election day.
The proposal was officially rejected, so the prime minister’s only alternative was to persuade a number of deputies to send a letter to the commission calling on it to amend the article itself. But this was not feasible because the request would have come from outside the parliament and a plenary session. Furthermore, it defied all logic for parliament to accept amendments to the electoral law during the period when candidacies are being registered.
But will Dbeibah and his team give up? No one can predict what will happen in the coming hours and days, but what is certain is that there is a battle of wills and an open confrontation between protagonists. In fact, presidential elections could be the starting point for a new crisis making things worse than before, especially since the political players do not recognise each other. Indeed, each one believes his survival depends on the elimination of the other.

Biden should reject US return to Iran nuclear deal
Dalia Al-Aqidi /Arab News/November 11/2021
Iran has been dominating the news over the past month. It all started with the recent conflict between Lebanon and the Gulf states over controversial televised comments made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi. Even though Kordahi’s remarks were made a month before he became a member of a Christian party allied to Hezbollah, the Gulf countries are fed up dealing with a nation controlled by an Iranian proxy.
In Iraq, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on Sunday survived an assassination attempt made using Iranian-made drones while he was at his residence in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone. The attack followed direct threats made by pro-Iran Shiite militia leader Qais Al-Khazali of the Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq group, which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US.
Meanwhile, debates on whether the Biden administration should revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, continue in Washington.
Members of the Republican Party have accused President Joe Biden of ignoring the hostile attitude of the Iranian regime toward the US and its allies abroad in order to fulfill his campaign promise of returning to the JCPOA.
A US garrison at Al-Tanf in Syria was last month attacked by a drone, while an Israeli-managed commercial oil tanker was targeted in the Gulf of Oman in July. Tehran has been accused of being behind both attacks.
Seventeen Republican lawmakers last week sent a letter to the White House urging the president to desist from continuing diplomatic talks with Tehran and not to reward Iran for its violent behavior. They said Biden was sending a dangerous message to America’s friends and adversaries alike that Washington is willing to lift sanctions and negotiate with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism as it attacks their country, in reference to the Al-Tanf attack.
America supporting regime change would give the Iranian opposition inside the country motivation for demonstrations and civil disobedience.
“This attack is yet another reminder that your administration is setting the wrong priorities by working to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal. If Iran is willing to engage in this kind of behavior while negotiations are still ongoing, imagine the respect they will have for any agreement once the ink is dry,” the letter read. It added that the administration continues to weaken America’s ability to combat the Iranian regime by lifting sanctions.
The Vienna talks are set to resume on Nov. 29 after a five-month break, during which new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took office. How strongly he desires a deal remains to be seen, but Tehran will continue pursuing its nuclear efforts in the meantime.
Kelsey Davenport, the director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, emphasized that Washington should not reward Iran for continuing to violate the nuclear deal, warning of sending Tehran the wrong signal. “The Biden administration has to walk a fine line between demonstrating to Iran that Tehran will benefit from sanctions relief if the deal is restored, while not giving in to Iranian leverage,” she said.
While Tehran seeks the lifting of all sanctions, this month’s decision by the US Treasury Department to impose sanctions on two Iranian entities and four individuals makes it clear that this option will not be available, which should push Iran to soften its language. Would it consider that? Absolutely not.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian criticized the US decision on Twitter, writing: “The White House calls for negotiations with Iran and claims to be ready to return to the JCPOA. Yet it simultaneously imposes new sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities. The purpose of negotiations is not talking for the sake of talking, but to achieve tangible results on the basis of respect for mutual interests.”
So how should the Biden administration deal with the Iranian nuclear file? With the support of the Republicans, the president should abandon his campaign promise to revive the deal and explain the decision to his base by highlighting all the Iranian atrocities against the US, its allies and the millions of innocent people around the world, while tightening the sanctions on the Tehran government.
Learning from Iraq, forced government change from outside will not benefit either country. However, the US supporting regime change would give the Iranian opposition inside the country motivation for demonstrations and civil disobedience. It almost happened in 2009 and it could happen again in 2021.
Biden needs to find the courage to take a stand against the people that are pushing him to sign a new deal with Iran.
*Dalia Al-Aqidi is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy. Twitter: @DaliaAlAqidi

Iran regime’s popularity is now at its lowest ebb
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 11/2021
As long as the Iranian regime exerts significant influence in Iraq and interferes in its domestic affairs, it will most likely continue to be unstable.
After last month’s elections, groups aligned with the Iranian government lost dozens of seats in the Iraqi parliament. Instead of accepting the election results, some supporters of these political groups poured onto the streets, resulting in violent clashes between demonstrators and government forces.
This is not the first time that clashes have erupted after the Iranian regime and its militia groups didn’t get the result they wanted at the ballot box. For example, in 2016, when Iran’s preferred candidate for prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, was replaced by Haidar Abadi, protesters stormed the Iraqi parliament building and demanded the speaker halt the session.
The losses the Iran-backed groups experienced in last month’s elections demonstrate the increasing opposition of the Iraqi people to the Tehran regime and its destructive role in the country. In fact, the Iranian regime’s popularity is now at its lowest ebb, not only in Iraq but also in other Arab states such as Lebanon.
In the last few years, the international community has witnessed many people in Lebanon and Iraq taking to the streets to express their opposition to Tehran’s interference in their nations, either directly or indirectly through militia groups like Hezbollah. In May, protesters attacked the Iranian regime’s consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala. The Karbala consulate was also targeted in November 2019, during the nationwide demonstrations, when protesters accused Tehran of interfering in Iraqi affairs. The Iranian leaders’ concerns have increased lately as a result of the increasing opposition to its meddling in Iraq.
In the last few years, the international community has witnessed many people in Lebanon and Iraq taking to the streets to express their opposition to Tehran’s interference in their nations.
The Iranian leaders have been spreading false narratives through their state media and via diplomatic means, insisting that the regime is only helping Iraq become stable. But Tehran is pushing Baghdad to follow in the footsteps of its revolution. As the founder of the regime, Ayatollah Khomeini, stated: “We will export our revolution to the four corners of the world because our revolution is Islamic.” Khomeini’s intentions are also incorporated in the Iranian constitution, which emphasizes that “the mission of the constitution is… to create conditions conducive to the development of man in accordance with the noble and universal values of Islam,” providing “the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the revolution at home and abroad.”
The Iranian regime has skillfully utilized its soft and hard power to exert influence and control Iraq. By establishing ties with and training, financing, unifying and arming the Iraqi Shiite militias, Iran seeks to accomplish several objectives, such as helping them achieve political success to enter the parliament and have a say in the country’s internal affairs, aligning them with Iran’s interests. This can ensure Tehran’s influence in the country for the long term. The Shiite militias also allow Iran to exert more influence in Iraq, thus tipping the regional balance of power in its favor and against its neighbors and the US.Economically speaking, Tehran has used trade to ratchet up its leverage over Baghdad. If the Iranian regime does not get the results it desires in Iraq or if the Iraqi government becomes reluctant in preserving Tehran’s political and economic interests, it can threaten the government by telling Shiite leaders to move against it and threaten its hold on power.
Iranian leaders across the political spectrum, including moderates, hard-liners and Principlists alike, follow the directions of the key decision-makers — Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the senior cadre of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — when it comes to Iran’s role in Iraq. Any opposition from Iran’s political figures toward the country’s current role in Iraq would mean opposition to the supreme leader and the IRGC. That is why no influential Iranian politician has ever spoken out.
* Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Disarming Iran-backed militias should be Iraq’s urgent priority
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/November 11/2021
The failed assassination attempt on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi — carried out on Sunday with Iranian-made drones — shows that, in its foreign policy toward the Arab region, Iran is continuing with its usual objective of weakening and destabilizing any respected and legitimate sovereign state.
As the accusations of who was behind the attack focused on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, it was quite amusing to read on social media the so-called respectable Western experts blaming the situation on last year’s assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Abu Madhi Al-Muhandis, the head of the Popular Mobilization Units. Unbelievably, these experts’ analysis stated that the deaths of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis made the 100 percent Iranian-sponsored militias in Iraq less controllable by — wait for it — Iran. This is total nonsense.
The attempt on the Iraqi prime minister’s life was exactly the type of action Soleimani would have ordered. Unfortunately, it is highly doubtful the investigation will lead to any substantial findings. In an ideal scenario, those responsible for this action should be brought to justice, with Iraqi judges ruling over their fate. It is by fighting these attacks with sovereign institutions that Iraq can win. If Iran’s goal for Iraq is to allow its militias to continue bleeding the country white, the best answer is to strengthen the state and make it even more powerful: All branches and for all its people.
The timing of this attack is also another reason to point the finger of blame at Iran and its militias, as the latter were largely rejected during last month’s parliamentary elections. The fact is that Iraqis understand that Iran’s Middle East policy has nothing to do with freeing their Shiite brothers living under oppression, as they claim. Iraq is the perfect example that it is actually a policy of violent expansionism. Even in Iraq, where the majority of the population is Shiite, Iran is creating more divisions and chaos. The election results clearly sent a message to Tehran: Deal with our state and do not interfere in our domestic affairs.
It is time for Iraqi political leaders to prove that their loyalty is with their own nation by taking this bold decision.
Unlike Lebanon, where it is too late to extract the country from its Iranian occupation, Iraq still has a chance. It is a difficult mission, but it is the only way for Iraq to keep its sovereignty. It is a road paved with danger. The best and most efficient way of dealing with it is to outlaw the militias immediately and have them surrender their weapons. Iraq will not survive if the militias are allowed to continue endangering and threatening every voice that calls for sovereignty. Coexistence with armed militias is not an option. The state must have a monopoly on weapons. It is time for Iraqi political leaders to prove that their loyalty is with their own nation by taking this bold decision.
Another important step toward stability in Iraq would be to also outlaw any foreign financing of domestic political and public life. Moreover, no political party should be allowed to administer social services, such as subsidies on goods or free medical services. This demands intense scrutiny of such actions, which could be used to influence the electorate and create divisions within society. All welfare benefits should be offered by the state and to all citizens, regardless of their religion or ethnicity. Charities should be apolitical.
Lebanon made the fatal mistake of allowing Hezbollah to retain its military arsenal, while all other militias gave theirs up at the end of the civil war, and let it build parallel institutions to the state. It is one of the main causes of the current catastrophic situation in the country. The group has been allowed to become a state above the state and has destroyed the country. The Iraqi army should, therefore, be empowered to face any threat, whether internal or external. It should not need the help or support of any armed group.
Beyond implementing the will of the people, an end to armed militias is a necessity to bring stability to the political situation in the country. It is not a surprise that an escalation such as that seen on Sunday has taken place. Did everyone forget that 30 Iraqi activists who criticized the Iran-backed militias have been assassinated in the past three years? How many more killings and abductions are necessary before Iraqis stand united against this threat? Will they react when all honorable judges are killed? Or when university scholars disappear? This is what happens when militias act with total impunity.
Therefore, disarming these militias is the most important mission that the next government will need to undertake. This is the last chance for Iraq to survive and free itself from Iranian control. This is also the only way to eradicate all the symptoms that come with foreign interference, such as corruption. Moreover, nothing justifies the militias’ existence, not even the threat of Daesh. The mistake would be to think that this will be achievable later and under new regional circumstances. The Lebanese leaders thought the same way and realized too late that this gambit would not work. Iraq should learn from this and act now. There is no other way.
* Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.